B.C. Immigration Goes Negative but Wealthy Migrants Flood in (Audio)

Analysts say the dramatic drop in immigration to B.C. from other countries, which recently plunged to negative numbers for the first time in 10 years, will not slow the flow of wealthy foreigners into Vancouver real estate. In the fourth quarter of 2014, immigration to B.C. was negative 3,145 people after a net increase of 18,753 in the previous quarter and an average of 34,000 annually for the past decade.

However, an exclusive study of national data shows that hundreds of wealthy foreigners are using a backdoor to B.C. without showing up on immigration numbers.

The Conservative government set April 1, 2015 as the deadline for the temporary low-skilled workers to leave the country after changing the rules in 2011. Formerly, TFWs had only to re-apply, but new rules require them to leave the country for at least four years before re-applying.

The exodus from B.C. has begun.

In all, 6,900 of these “non-permanent residents” left B.C. in the last three months of 2014 and even more will likely leave in the first and second quarters of this year.

There are an estimated 70,000 TFWs in B.C., third highest among provinces.

A 90-day provincial moratorium on applications under B.C.’s revised Provincial Nominee Program began on March 31.

Quebec plans to bring in approximately 5,000 investor immigrants this year, a record amount.

Such investors loan the Quebec government $800,000 interest-free for five years and in return receive permanent resident visas for their family. The immigrant investor states they will reside in Quebec, but studies show that nearly all investors promptly relocate to B.C and Ontario.

From 2005 to 2012, about 45,000 millionaire migrants arrived in Vancouver through the previous federal and Quebec immigrant investor programs. To put this in perspective, the entire United States accepted less than 9,500 wealthy immigrants in the same period under its EB-5 immigrant investor program, representing less than 30,000 immigrants.